


We Will Rule This World Like The Queens Of Old

by TheLastOfTheReal_Ones



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Based on Castlevania, Blood and Injury, F/F, F/M, Fem!Haikyuu characters, Female Iwaizumi Hajime, Female Oikawa Tooru, Heartbreak, I repeat: IWAOI IS ENDGAME!, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Inspired by Castlevania, It’s brief but it’s there, Iwaizumi Hajime is Bad at Feelings, Just for a little while, Protective Iwaizumi Hajime, Queens, Rule 63, Strangers to Lovers, Styria - Freeform, Sword Fighting, TW - Rape/Non-con, TW - Violence, Vampire Iwaizumi Hajime, Vampire Oikawa Tooru, Vampires, because, cool vampire girlfriends, iwaoi is endgame
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-27
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-18 00:20:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 22,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29725455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLastOfTheReal_Ones/pseuds/TheLastOfTheReal_Ones
Summary: She let go of her hand, but she didn’t move an inch, her eyes boring into Tooru’s chocolate brown orbs as she continued.“My sisters and I, we rule this land as Queens. And to serve Queens, it takes women. Men are not trustworthy. They can be bought off, they are always so greedy and they don’t care about anything but themselves. They’ve never been loyal to us. So we choose only women to lead our forces in battle, and rise the ranks of our armies to become royal guards, the highest privilege one could ever ask for around here. I know you’ll never betray us. We’ve saved you, and the only thing we ask in return for your safety and comfort here with us, is your loyalty. Whether or not you accept my proposal, that will stay the same.”Hajime took a step back. A mischievous grin painted itself over her lips when she said:“Though something tells me the dull work of a servant would bore you half to death. Wouldn’t you be much more satisfied with the life I am offering you? Think about it, and let me know when you’ve decided.”She glanced at Tooru’s pink cheeks and her awestruck expression one last time before she made her way out of the room, leaving the other woman to ponder over her words.
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou, Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru, Iwaizumi Hajime/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 10





	We Will Rule This World Like The Queens Of Old

**Author's Note:**

> For vampires, who sleep during the day and are awake at night time, having a good day is actually meant as ‘goodnight’. So, following that logic, the evening is the equivalent of morning and the morning is the equivalent of evening for night children.
> 
> Also, I know Strigoïs aren’t actually how I described them in mythology, but since I based this story off of Castlevania, Iwaizumi is kind of inspired by Striga. So... good read! And thank you! And please leave a kudos and a comment if you liked this!

A fresh coat of snow had fallen during the day, masking any and all traces Hajime could have used to track down the traitor she was sent after. The faint glow of the moon basked the white expanse of land in an eerie silver, and the silence of the forest where the vampire’s last tracks had led her weighted on her shoulders more heavily than the metal of her armor. She hated it.

There was a town just a little way up north of here, and that’s where the traitor was hiding, she was sure of it. He knew she was coming for him. And in true coward’s fashion, he was probably drowning his fears in alcohol and sex. Maybe she’d find him in the bloody carnage of the town, sprawled in the middle of crimson colored snow, gorging himself on so much blood he could bath in it. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d chase down a traitor and find them in such disarray.

It didn’t mean she was looking forward to it, though. She had always been a woman of honor, and she’d rather be caught dead than reaching this level of low in her life, even if she knew she was condemned to die in the next hours.

Imagine her surprise when she finally caught his disgustingly bitter scent again, and it led her to a cabin just outside the town, and no blood splattered anywhere. The eerie silence was unbroken, the peace and quiet of a normal night in this normal town was left untouched, and it’s out of curiosity that Hajime decided to wait and see how things would turn out. After all, a vampire was hiding in a cabin at the edge of town, and either the townspeople had no idea he was there, or they had somehow gotten away unscathed.

Perched on the branches of one of the trees surrounding the cabin, hidden in the shadows they provided, she watched intently. The bitter smell had become stronger. Another was slowly reaching her nose, a sweet smell she knew well. The vampire had bedded a woman tonight. Maybe that’s how the village survived. They sold one of their daughters to the devil to be consummated. Whether that exchange had been made out of the young woman’s free will of not, it had probably not mattered much to those dishonorable pigs. The thought had her blood boiling. A father had sent his daughter to a horrible death tonight. And now the village was sleeping, ever peaceful.

The traitor’s smell had grown so strong it had overpowered every bit of the sweet one, and she could taste it in her mouth, the disgusting satisfaction of a spent man collapsing, a smile on his lips. Bile rose up in her throat.

The cabin’s door opened up. She stared at the scene from up above. Just like she had thought, a young woman passed the threshold on shaky legs that almost gave out when she staggered outside into the harsh winter air. Long brown locks that were probably beautiful when they were not coated in dry blood ran down the girl’s back. A thin nightgown that was white as snow at the start of the night hang off of a pale shoulder, the torn fabric falling apart on the lithe frame. She had no shoes on, or socks. Her pale feet carried her three little steps forward before she was falling on her knees in cold snow. Blood was running down her neck, then her shoulder, before the crimson was tainting the nightgown.

Hajime hadn’t moved an inch since the woman had stepped out of the cabin. She could blame it on surprise. She had not expected to find this human alive when she’d see her silhouette. In fact, she had been quite certain she’d see parts of her strewn around the floor of the cabin, and her blood coating the traitor’s lips and neck, not the snow. But she somehow had made it out alive, even if it would not be for much longer now.

But that’s not all that didn’t make sense. No, something else was amiss. Hajime saw blood. She knew if she made her way to the woman, and scooped out the bloodied snow, she’d have metling water and crimson in her hands. And the sweet smell was still present. Sweat and tears the woman had shed during her horrible night. Only she could not smell the iron.

And that could only mean one thing. When they couldn’t smell blood, it wasn’t because they were in the presence of one of their own. This young woman was a newly turned vampire.

She should not have acted the way she did. She should have made the execution painful. She should have inflicted more on him but a simple broken neck. But she couldn’t calm down that feeling in her chest that bloomed at the same time as the woman got back to her feet, unaware that her torturer had just inhaled his last breath in this life just a few feet behind her. Unaware that a vampire was intently trailing after her from the shadows.

Hajime had been wrong to assume peacefulness would await them in the village. It was silent for a moment, like before, but it was a tense silence. She could smell the fear of the people that peered at the young woman from behind their windows as she painfully staggered forward with uncertain steps. The strigoï could hear them. “The bastard survived. What do we do? The demon will kill us! We must send her back! Have her suffer for us!”

Hajime hid in the shadow of the roofs, propped up on the edge of the church’s spire. The small number of men brave enough to come out of their house stepped outside and started toward the shivering silhouette of the girl. They had knives and forks in their nervous, tight grasps. Most of them kept sending worried glances toward the edge of the village, where a bloodied path led to the cabin, and the dead monster she left to rot in it. Only they had no idea he was dead. And so they’d send the woman back. Expect to see her well and truly dead by tomorrow morning, like the monster had surely promised.

“Go back!”  
“You’ll anger him!”  
“He’ll kill us, go back, bastard!”  
“Go wake her father! He’ll send her back!”

Hajime was the only one to hear the whisper of the woman standing in the middle of the street, bare feet red from the cold of the snow and naked arms wrapped around her chest to keep what little warmth she still possessed close, as blood continued pouring from her wounded neck. A broken litany of “don’t send me back, don’t send me back.”

When she collapsed on the ground, Hajime watched a tall middle aged man break out of the crowd and walk up to the woman she could only imagine was his daughter. She expected a soft embrace, a grieving presence. She most probably appeared dead to them. But the man only shook the small frame and struck her on the cheek when he could not wake her. Her eyes fell open, and the vampire caught sight of two chocolate orbs, warm even in this kingdom of snow.

Her father hoisted them both up on their feet, shook her again and then pushed her back to where she came from. She stayed on her feet, this time, head dipped to the ground. And when she looked back up at them, her pleading gaze had something hidden beneath it. Hajime unconsciously leaned forward. This is what she came here to see. The bloodshed of a newly transformed vampire.

But the young woman bowed her head down again. She was resisting the primal instincts of the beast growing in her, and she was winning. Her father signaled for two men to come forward, and they took her by the arms, painful grips dragging her away until they were stepping back down the path to the cabin. The vampire growled in an unheard warning before finally leaping down to the ground. At first, no one noticed her crouched form on the snow covered stone. When she rose to her feet, though, the people closest to her turned to look behind them. They all screamed and stepped back, alarmed. She smiled. It was time to play.

Dishonorable people get a dishonorable death. Not a parcel of snow in the village wasn’t covered in blood when she was done. She had left the trembling father for last and made quick work of butchering the two men who had thrown the unconscious woman at her before bolting away. Hajime had laid her on the ground before chasing after them. The father was a whimpering mess when she stepped in front of him. She snarled at him. His blood had been disgusting, tasting of dread.

She walked back to the dying woman, a trail of corpses behind her. And when she leaned down to pick the woman up in her arms, she tucked her head in the crook of her neck. She nudged her lips open, and tilted her neck to the side. When the new vampire bit down, she didn’t feel any pain. The young woman reached for her, grasping her shoulders and her neck, biting down almost softly. As if she was shy to bit down too hard. Hajime chuckled.

She carried the beautiful woman back home with her, leaving behind a desolated town and a fresh coat of white, perfect snow to cover up the blood soaked streets of the town until summer came around again.

&

Tooru woke up to cold, tender fingers brushing back her hair and carding through her curls. Her eyes fluttered open and the glow of the flames in the earth was low enough she had no trouble adjusting her sight to the scarce light of the room. It was with relief she came to and found all of the pain and the cold gone from her body, and only the soft warmth of a bed against her skin.

The fingers didn’t stop their ministrations. She looked into deep green forest eyes, and the woman smiled down at her, a small quirk of her lips and reassuring words on the tip of her tongue.

“You’re okay. I promise, you’re safe here with me. The monster is dead and you’re okay.”

She drifted back to sleep with a small smile of her own, leaning into the touch of the woman standing at her bedside. That night, she dreamed of emerald eyes and tan skin, and the taste of iron on her tongue.

&

“How is she?”  
“You’d know if you came to see her.”  
“Keiji, I’ve been busy.”  
“I know. She’s doing fine. She’s woken up for a full twelve hours’ night and her wounds are healed. She’s been asking about you.”  
“Has she? I thought she’d mistake me for you.”

Keiji grinned at her, something gleaming in her eyes that Hajime had grown to know not to mistake for anything else but smugness and mischief. Her sister looked up front again, and they continued their way down the hallway, passing doors and guards and servants that bowed down when they came near. When the two sisters were alone again, Keiji continued. That gleam had doubled in intensity.

“She’s told me our eyes are different. Mine are forest green, yours are alike emeralds. I think she was still a bit feverish from the transformation, but I can see what she meant.”

Hajime scoffed, pushing back the hem of her cloak as she came to a stop at the foot of the grand staircase, about to go up. That’s where Keiji and her had to part ways. That’s also where they’d leave this conversation behind, and the urge to sprint up the stairs and forget about the words that were said just now was almost stronger than her manners. But Keiji would get mad.

“Will she be up and ready to get to work soon? It has been three days.”

Normally, a vampire’s transformation took a day of remission, but the conditions that led to the transformation of their new ward had been less than optimal. The shift had left the unconscious woman almost dying, and her body had grown even weaker than before, thinner and more fragile. Thankfully, vampires heal fast. And although three days may appear long, it could have been worse. But Hajime did not need Keiji to know she had been kept aware of the state and health of the woman she’d saved.

Her sister cast an annoyed glance her way before stepping to the side of the staircase and calmly walking toward the archway to their left, which lead to her quarters, where she was heading. She came to a stop at the edge of the hallway, turning around to look back at the strigoï marching up the steps.

“She’ll be up in a matter of days. I expect no one will rush her, or they shall face your wrath. You can try and hide the fact that you have a heart, dear sister, but at least have the common sense to know I will not be fooled.”

Hajime rolled her eyes. She had expected that reaction. It was a given Keiji had known since the start. Nothing went passed her around here. They both knew she didn’t have to answer, there was nothing left to be said about that topic. She had started going up again when the physician spoke again. To say she had been shocked by what her sister was about to bring up would have been an understatement.

“I thought by now you might have wished to know her name.”

She did. She thought it would be the last tie to the knot, and that after that, that young woman she had brought back on horseback would finally be gone from her mind, since all of the mysteries around her would have been solved. Oh, how disappointed she had been to find out it had only drawn her in more fiercely.

“Her name is Tooru. Oikawa Tooru.”

The vampires parted ways after that, not another word spoken between them. And thus marked the start of a new page in Hajime’s life, as well as Tooru’s, who had just woken up from her slumber in the east wing of the palace.

&

Tooru bowed low, as she was instructed, when the member of the Council stepped in the room. She hadn’t realized she had held her breath in anticipation. But she didn’t dare inhale too deeply, anxious of making a noise or moving around too much for the vampire’s taste. She knew no one here wanted to hurt her, Akaashi had said so. But still, she hoped not to anger anyone important enough that it could cost her.

Call it survival instincts.

She could see leather boots, long legs and the long hem of a cloak almost dragging on the floor as the vampire stepped past the threshold and into the room, and came closer and closer to her. They came to a stop just in front of her, and seconds flew by in utter silence as she squared her shoulders and hoped she’d be allowed upstraight again. The angle in which her neck was in was killing her.

She would be lying if she said she wasn’t startled by the hand that came to rest atop her head, fingers carding through her brown curls just like Akaashi had done when she’d first woken up.

The vampire pulled back three whole seconds later, and Tooru was glad to hear the words that left the woman’s mouth in a breath. “Rise.” She did, standing to her full height, her eyes immediately drawn to the other’s face. She found herself star struck, because before her stood a woman just a few centimeters smaller than her, eyes green like the emeralds she dreamed of during her feverish state. She was tan, and Tooru could see scars littering what little expanse of skin she had uncovered. Her hair was long, kept in a complicated braid that started from atop her head and ran down her back. She wore a dark cloak lined with black fur that hid most of her frame, yet she still had an arm outstretched. The one that she had brought to card through Tooru’s hair. Her eyes were almond shaped, just like Tooru’s. And her lips were beautiful.

The words left her mouth before she could think twice about it, and the second they did she was cursing herself for her lack of self-control. Really, one would think she’d have a better hold of her tongue about now.

“It’s you.”

The small, small smile that graced those lips was the most magnificent thing Tooru had seen in a while, and she had just been brought to a fairy tail castle in the middle of the mountains of Styria. The sights here were exceptional. But this woman… she was something else entirely. Something out of a tale that told of a beautiful Goddess sent down on Earth, surely.

Hajime was surprised when Tooru spoke up, even more when her cheeks blushed a faint pink and she looked down at her lips for the second time in not even two minutes. It was a good kind of surprise. The kind that has you wondering about that precise moment even hours after, when you’re laying in bed and you can’t turn off your mind.

“Thank you!”

Tooru’s cheeks were a dark pink now, and she bowed once before looking down at the ground, almost sheepish, probably berating herself for speaking out of turn not once, but two times now. A grin took up Hajime’s lips, because if you had told her the vampire she saved from that human village a week ago was going to be so cute, she would not have believed you.

“It was my pleasure.”

The smile that painted itself across Tooru’s lips made her eyes crinkle.

Hajime walked past her and sat down at the table in the middle of the room, gesturing for her guest to do the same. She took a seat in front of her, tucking her hands under her thighs. Her nervousness was palpable even from the other side of the table. And it soon became clear she was waiting for Hajime to talk, this time.

“You are probably wondering what I wanted to talk to you about. Well, here it is. I’ve heard from Akaashi that you’ve been trained to fight. I’m finding myself one soldier short in a division I oversee personally. And you seem to fit my criteria.”

Tooru honestly seemed shocked by her words. Her mouth hang open and her eyes were wide, her surprise paralyzing her for a few seconds. She shook her head and closed her mouth before opening it up again, looking at Hajime as if the vampire had grown a second head. Or a third eye. And it lasted a while. To be frank, the staring was starting to become annoying. Hajime cleared her throat before pointedly looking back at Tooru, obviously asking for a response.

Her voice was small when she answered, eyes locked to the center of the table between them.

“I… Yes, I was trained, but… I’m a woman. I’m not allowed to fight.”

Hajime scoffed.

“Is that what those humans told you? Well, I decimated each one of them and I’m a woman. And your reasoning makes no sense. If you truly thought we shouldn’t fight, you wouldn’t have learned how to fight.”

Tooru’s glare she sent her way certainly was a surprise. She didn’t have time to really react somehow before the new vampire was looking back at the table, arms wrapped around her chest as if to protect herself.

“My father had the town believe his bastard was a son, so that at least some of his honor was left intact. He had me learn with the other boys when the time came and told me that if I did well enough, he’d keep me around for a while longer. I was supposed to protect my older sister, it was my sole purpose.”

When she looked back at Hajime, her eyes seemed to have pinned her in place, a heavy stare holding behind it years and years of suffering at the hands of uncaring people. Had she been a lesser woman, she might have looked away, or faltered under that look. But she was no lesser woman. And that haunted gleam in Tooru’s eyes, she knew it well. Hajime could teach her how to overcome it. But it would not be her choice to do so or not. She could only offer to help.

“Your sole purpose that suddenly became a death penalty.”  
“… yes. He wanted my sister first. Father sent her away during the night, just to be sure. And suddenly, I had always been the woman they had all wanted me to be.”

She almost didn’t catch the rest of the sentence, muttered under Tooru’s breath as she looked away, down at her lap. “Better the bastard than the girls.”

Hajime took a deep breath to calm herself down. She hadn’t been so glad that she killed them all ever before. If she hadn’t, then maybe she’d go back right now, and tear them apart one by one. Maybe she’d had brought Tooru with, so she could make them pay for their crimes herself. But for now, there were better things to be done than wishful thinking. Hajime rose up from her chair, walked around the table until she stood next to the woman she had saved, and offered her her hand.

Tooru looked up to her with a hundred different questions in her eyes, and Hajime set her lips into a thin line, squared her shoulders and straightened her back. She reached for the other’s hand and pulled the other woman to her feet. She didn’t let go of her hand as she leaned closer. And closer. They stood a hair’s breath away from each other when Hajime spoke again. She whispered, as if she wanted to make sure only Tooru would hear her. A shiver ran down the new vampire’s back when Hajime’s breath fanned over her cheek.

“They had you believe you were less of a woman because of the circumstances of your birth. They were wrong. You’ve always been more than enough, more than any of their precious daughters ever could be. And now, you’re more powerful as well. Faster, stronger. You won’t have to be alone again. There are other women here that have survived through stories just like yours. And that is what I am offering you.”

She let go of her hand, but she didn’t move an inch, her eyes boring into Tooru’s chocolate brown orbs as she continued.

“My sisters and I, we rule this land as Queens. And to serve Queens, it takes women. Men are not trustworthy. They can be bought off, they are always so greedy and they don’t care about anything but themselves. They’ve never been loyal to us. So we choose only women to lead our forces in battle, and rise the ranks of our armies to become royal guards, the highest privilege one could ever ask for around here. I know you’ll never betray us. We’ve saved you, and the only thing we ask in return for your safety and comfort here with us, is your loyalty. Whether or not you accept my proposal, that will stay the same.”

Hajime took a step back. A mischievous grin painted itself over her lips when she said:

“Though something tells me the dull work of a servant would bore you half to death. Wouldn’t you be much more satisfied with the life I am offering you? Think about it, and let me know when you’ve decided.”

She glanced at Tooru’s pink cheeks and her awestruck expression one last time before she made her way out of the room, leaving the other woman to ponder over her words.

&

Hajime made her way over to Yaku, who was standing, arms crossed over her chest, by the side of the sparring ground. When she reached her and came to stand next to her, eyes trailed on the silhouettes battling in front of them, she was greeted with a grunt, which she returned. One of the reasons she had put Yaku in charge of their future fighters’ training was that the other woman was a warrior through and through, seasoned by hundreds of years spent on the battlefield, much like herself. Another reason was that she liked the small vampire. There were no need for useless formalities with her.

“How’s it going?”

Yaku’s eyes left the sparring match for a second so she could cast a glance to her side before she was analyzing the battle again, piercing eyes reflecting like a mirror the flames from the torches around them. Hajime turned back to the fight again as well. Today was sword training, it seemed.

Her eyes searched for a certain head of brown hair amongst the different duels, but she soon realized Tooru wasn’t there.

It also seemed as though she hadn’t been as discrete as she’d hope scouring through the fight to try and find the new vampire. Yaku quirked an eyebrow at her.

“You just missed her. She’s on polishing duty today.”

Hajime threw a glare in Yaku’s direction before focusing again. She had hoped to see how Tooru had progressed so far, yes, but she was also here because she needed to be.

“I’m here to make sure you’re doing good work with them, I’ll have you know.”

The smirk on Yaku’s lips was contagious.

“Queen Iwaizumi, when have I ever disappointed you? My training techniques are flawless. You’ll have your pick of the best trained warriors in all of Styria by the end of the year, I guarantee it.”  
“I know you won’t let me down, Yaku. I also expect a list of the most promising girls you have in hand by tomorrow night. We might need to double the forces around here, especially with our Southern enemies waging war against one another at the border.”  
“Oh, I’m not worried. They won’t come for Styria. After all, who on this side of the continent would want to cross the vampire Queens?”

Both women shared an amused look before Yaku was looking back at her wards and screamed something along the lines of “pick that sword up and fight like you mean it, or I’ll come over there myself, and you won’t like the experience!”

Hajime took her leave quietly. She’d have more time to talk to Yaku alone later. Right now, she still needed to take care of Keiji’s request, send someone to their outpost on the Southern borders to write up a report and make sure the training on the foot soldiers’ part was going well. And there was that one issue about Sugawara’s ward Kinoshita and the vampire that had thought it would be harmless to mess with her…

Just as she was turning a corner, she collided into a big stack of swords that fell to the ground in a multitude of clanking sounds against the stone floor. She stepped back to assess the scene, the swords scathered in ever direction on the ground, and was about to send her most deadly glare at the other’s head when she stopped dead in her tracks.

There it was, the missing head of brown hair. Tooru had already fallen in a bow before her, her eyes set on the ground, her hands reaching for the swords closest to her and collecting them in the leather cloth spread out on her arms again. She wasn’t wearing one of those dresses servants wore when she saw her that night weeks ago, but the clothes guards wore under their armor when they were training together. The white shirt suited her very well, and the black pants hugged her long legs in all the right places to accentuate the muscles there. The long sleeves were rolled up to her elbows, and Hajime could see the way her biceps tensed as she lifted the heavy swords easily off the ground.

“I’m so, so sorry, your majesty, I should have looked where I was going! This will never happen ever again, I promise, please forgive my clumsiness-”  
“It’s quite alright. I was lost in my thoughts. It was my fault.”

If Hajime had been a few decades younger, she might have been embarrassed about how quick she was to dismiss Tooru’s apology, and she would have never offered one of her own. But she had matured quite a lot since she was first brought into this world. Her pride did take a hit because of this incident (she was supposed to be a freaking invincible vampire Queen, damn it, how could she be so clumsy?) and she would probably curse herself for appearing this dumb in front of Tooru of all people later today. However, taking out her anger on Tooru like she would have done with anybody else would prove to be a mistake, she was sure.

And if she relished in the few seconds that Tooru’s lips quirked up into a small and pretty smile, well, that was completely unrelated.

Tooru soon excused herself, stating that she had swords to bring back to Yaku, before all but sprinting down the hallway and disappearing behind anther corner, leaving Hajime to stare at absolutely nothing for a few seconds more than what was acceptable.

&

“You need more training if you want to make it to general.”

Tooru looked surprised at that, as if she had not expected that would be what Hajime wanted to talk to her about. She looked to the side when she realized the she had been looking at her directly in the eyes, something normally the Queen wouldn’t encourage. But this was different. She was always more lenient with the female division of the army, and especially with a few selected ones. And beside, what she was about to offer to Tooru would make eye contact between the both of them almost mandatory.

“That’s why I’m offering you to help with your training. If you were to accept, I wouldn’t interfere with your normal training. However, I’d offer supplementary lessons. I think you could learn quite a lot from that.”

It was almost funny how easy it was to convince Tooru to accept, even if she still stubbornly kept her eyes down when they stood face to face. Well, that would change soon anyway. Hajime would make sure of that.

“First lesson tomorrow evening, at dusk. Don’t be late, or else I’ll have you on boot duty for the next decade.”

Hajime couldn’t hold back a chuckle when Tooru winced at the threat. She knew from Yaku that the young woman truly hated boot duty. At the same time, it was understandable. Everyone hated boot duty.

&

“Harder!”

Tooru sent a kick at the dummy before sending a punch again, and again, and again. She was panting, her back was sweaty and her blood pounded in her ears, but she only picked up the pace. She wouldn’t show weakness. She wouldn’t fail.

“Come on, Tooru! Harder! You have a way to take out your anger, so use it! Punch it like you mean it!”

She punched harder and harder and harder, always harder, and yet Hajime wasn’t satisfied. Not even close to it. She pushed the dummy out of the way when Tooru took a second to breath, and stepped in its place. It wasn’t the first time she did this, but it still thrilled Tooru that the Queen would actually spar with her during their lessons. She didn’t have to, yet she did.

Tooru had to evade a punch so powerful it sent a shockwave through the air and broke the dummy behind her in half.

Ok, so, maybe she was thrilled, but she was also terrified. Hajime had a technique she could only ever dream of matching, and she had a strength and power that would have even the bravest of men cower in fear in an instant before her. Tooru had learned not long ago that the Queens of Styria were not born to royalty, but had fought to win the title. Only the most powerful of vampires could sit on the throne, and if there was one thing Tooru knew for sure about vampire hierarchy here in Styria, it was that Hajime deserved her title as Queen.

The woman sent a punch her way, aiming for her midriff. Tooru blocked the punch with both hands and still found herself sliding back a few feet, before dropping low to evade the kick sent at her head. In all of their previous fighting sessions, Tooru never had a chance to attack, always having to fall back on defense. She had not once been able to lend a hit. This time was no different, and she soon found herself sprawled on her back, an arm pressing on her windpipes hard enough to cut off her air supply. She tried to break out of under Iwaizumi, but she couldn’t shake her off.

Iwaizumi was looking down at her with burning eyes. She looked away again and finally let go of her arm to hit the ground in three short strikes. She expected the other vampire to do as she always did: get up on her feet before offering a hand to Tooru and hoisting her up, before promptly aiming a kick at her legs, which half of the time would send her crashing to the ground again. This time, however, Iwaizumi removed her arm but stayed where she was, looming over her with a look in her eyes Tooru couldn’t decipher. In weeks of training together, that had never happened.

She held her breath when Iwaizumi brushed away the strands of hair plastered on her face with sweat, rough fingers softly stroking her cheek. She didn’t know how to react, how to act, and soon she found herself looking up into emerald green eyes to ask for an explanation. Maybe Iwaizumi didn’t have one either, because when she met her gaze, she looked as stunned as her.

The only words that passed the barrier of the Queen’s lips were “Good work today. We’ll pick things up next time where we left them. Goodnight, Tooru.”

And then, she was gone.

Tooru spent the next five minutes trying to calm down the dangerously quick pace of her heart, and get the image of Iwaizumi’s lips away from her mind.

It did not work as well as she’d hope.

&

It seemed like they all had made it their mission to make her life a living hell.

Yaku has told her that Queen Iwaizumi had forgotten to sign an important form treating of the Southern borders’ numbers of troops the Council of Queens had spent days deciding upon. Queen Akaashi had entrusted Yaku to deliver it to Iwaizumi, but Yaku had a very important matter to take care of, so the missive was given to her and she was to deliver it right away.

That was what she set out to do, only when she asked where the Queen was, she got no clear answer. She spent the night searching for Iwaizumi, sent on what could only be wild goose chases around the palace until she stumbled right outside the women’s public baths.

And there she was, boisterous laughter coming up past the wooden archways guarding the entrance. Tooru had rarely visited this place, she preferred the intimacy her room allowed to wash up on her own. When she did come, it was when no one else was there.

She tried to cheer up by reminding herself that after that, she’d be going straight to bed. It did not work. She came in only because she knew she really had to, and she’d rather do boot duty for a decade than be bested by her fear of public baths.

So she approached the very naked and very beautiful women joking around with each other in very hot water, steam curling around every corner of her vision and yet doing nothing to cover up the expanses of skin she could see of these vampires she’d grown to call friends and sisters in arms during the last months.

They watched her coming with smiles on their lips, mischief in their eyes. She blushed a dark pink under all of their gaze, and wanted to disappear in the ground when a couple of them cooed at her from above the rim of their cup filled with what surely was a mix of blood and alcohol. In that very moment, she was sure whoever said no one had ever died of embarrassment was wrong, she was about to combust. There were even some women amongst them she had never ever met.

When she was close enough to be heard, which was closer than she would have liked, she cleared her throat and hoped to all the Gods above that her voice wouldn’t crack.

“Excuse me, but I have a message for Queen Iwaizumi. Yaku-san said to deliver it right away.”

The silence stretched out for seconds on end and she almost feared she had heard wrong and walked all the way up here to be told that Iwaizumi, in fact, was not present. How embarrassing would that be? But just when she was about to apologize for the bother and take her leave, continuing her search elsewhere, a woman with long black hair tied in a bun at her nape and tan skin gleaming under the glow of the torches turned around, facing her from the edge, and the vampire would recognize that quirked eyebrow anywhere.

She bowed in a hurry, and she had never been more grateful for this particular formality, because right now the ground was the only place she could look at without dying of embarrassment. Except Iwaizumi had to cut it short, much shorter than it ever had been before.

“Rise. Miko, hand me my towel. Thank you. Now, what is it Yaku wanted me to see so urgently?”

The Queen had wiped her hands on a towel before giving it back to the servant and stepping on the stone bench where she had been sitting before, reaching for the letter Tooru had just handed to her. Only she almost let go of the small envelop when… well, when there wasn’t even water covering up the form of the Queen, who had to be the most beautiful woman she had ever seen in her life.

She looked away almost too quickly, her gaze locked on the green bushes and the chairs and tables a few feet to the right of the bath. It was crazy how interesting a piece of wood could be under certain circumstances.

Hajime peered up at Tooru once she was shoulders deep in warm water again. She wanted to see the color her cheeks would take, which turned out to be a deep crimson that stood out like blood against the snow white of her skin. It was rather funny to see her so flustered. She smiled to herself before she looked back down at the missive in her hands. She hummed in recognition, and she promptly opened it, searching for what had to be amiss.

Except nothing was.

“What did Yaku tell you was missing?”  
“Y-your signature, your majesty.”  
“Hmm. Well, I’ve signed this paper, you can bring it back to that little schemer.”

Tooru bolted the second the missive was placed in her hands again, and the echoes of beautiful laughter followed her all the way across the palace.

&

The first time they kissed, Hajime was careful. She knew Tooru would need time, and a slow pace. Desiring something is different than having it rest in the palm of your hands. The brown haired woman had lived through a traumatic event which would leave the most courageous of warriors with a scar, be it mental or physical. It had been a year of hard training and slow remission for Tooru. Hajime knew that the vampire often woke up from nightmares about that terrible night they had first met. Keiji had prescribed a mix of herbs that would serve as a calming tea to help cool her down when she’d wake up in panic. It helped a lot, Tooru had said with a smile on her face, tears streaming down her cheeks.

It had been just the two of them that evening on the sparring ground. Hajime had sent a kick at Tooru’s legs and the next second she found herself on her back, stunned. But no one was more surprised than Tooru, who had been so excited by her small victory she raised her fists in the air and screamed in delight. Hajime had broken out of the hold easily enough and exchanged their position, although she did smile back at Tooru when they both got back on their feet. The other vampire had her head in the clouds during the rest of the lesson, basking in her success.

They had been about to part ways when Hajime had reached for her hand and leaned close to her. Tooru hadn’t stopped her, even though the strigoï had made sure she knew she could. She met her halfway, reaching out for her and putting her hands on her shoulders. Hajime draped her arms around her waist, tilting her head a little so she could deepen the kiss.

Tooru was softly panting when they broke apart, foreheads pressed together and twin smiles on their lips. That lovely pink had made its way back on her cheeks, and Hajime had never been more glad that she had left herself open in a fight before.

&

To be honest, Hajime should have seen it from the start. The signs where there, plain as day. And it would have saved them both a lot of troubles if she’d put a stop to all of this sooner. She wouldn’t have felt so angry at herself, at the world, at that damn human nature that Tooru didn’t seem to want to let go of. And Tooru wouldn’t have been unnecessarily hurt either. They had both been stupid. She didn’t realize soon enough, and her lover had fallen too deep without another thought.

Tooru had smiled at her with that look in her eyes only women in love had. She had talked and thought and acted like a woman in love does. Loyal to a fault, gentle and caring even when Hajime’s temper had been at its worst, and she had held her hand, the few times the Queen had allowed her to when they were outside of her room, like it was her proudest achievement. Her greatest joy.

And that could have been fine, it could have been, if Tooru’s idea of a relationship wasn’t one strictly exclusive and involving feelings on both part. Of course, Hajime had never tried to hide the fact that she had other relationships. She never hid the marks or the tells, and maybe she chose to ignore how Tooru seemed to become grim everytime she saw a love bite on her neck or her shoulder. The young vampire was well aware of the circumstances of their arrangement. But the Queen knew, and had known for a while, that Tooru held out some kind of hope that, if at least she wasn’t exclusive like she’d liked, she returned her feelings for her.

Hajime was not proud of how she handled that side of things. She had tried to think about how to bring it up for weeks. But it seemed matters of the heart had bested her strategic’s mind. She had not been able to come up with any clever plan or course of actions to take to minimize the damages. She had gotten nothing. And maybe she had let that bleed onto her interactions with Tooru, because during the last few nights, things had tensed between them. Looking back, she knew she had unconsciously urged Tooru to bring it up herself.

It had been one of those days they spent together. She hadn’t been able to go to sleep, Tooru’s head on her chest weighting down on her as if the young woman had been made of steel rather than soft pale skin and flesh and bones. So she’d gotten away, rushed movements waking up the vampire from her peaceful slumber. Tooru had followed her, offering comfort and sweet words and inquiries, to the edge of the bed where she had sat down, staring at the flames in the fireplace. Their warmth was comforting. The one her lover offered seemed to suffocate her. Hajime pushed her away with an annoyed glance, hoping it would be enough for her to get the message. It had, and she’d turn away and went back under the covers. The Queen watched her settle against the mattress from the corner of her eye, hoped she’d drift off to sleep again. She hadn’t. Her voice had held so much pain in that moment Hajime had wished she’d go deaf so she wouldn’t have to hear it.

“ _Do you think you’ll love me back one day?_ ”

Her words had gotten stuck in her throat before she could really think about it. The truth was, she had never loved anyone romantically before in her long, long life. She had no idea if she ever would. She felt attracted to Tooru. She found her beautiful and she was happy to be the one that got to make her smile. But she didn’t love her. Strigoïs didn’t fall in love.

“ _No, I don’t think so._ ”

From that point, things hadn’t gone well. And she knew that was her fault. She should have been more careful.

Tooru had pleaded her, valiantly trying to hold back her tears. She’d cried for Hajime to look at her, begged her to meet her eyes, but she couldn’t. She was stubborn like that. Prideful. She didn’t look away from the flames. Tooru’s breath had hitched in her throat. A stifled sob she wouldn’t let her hear. Because Tooru was proud too, and she didn’t want to surrender.

_“I’ll wait, I can wait, Haji, please, just… just…”  
“I told you how things would be. I told you we wouldn’t fall in love.”  
“But I… I thought that… maybe…”  
“That I’d be yours?”_

She had scoffed, ignoring the pained gasp behind her.

“ _I don’t belong to anybody.”  
“I don’t need that, I just want… more than this… you don’t have to be mine, I just… please, Haji, we can try-”  
“Nothing will ever change. I need you to accept that, Tooru.”  
“I… I can’t…”  
“Than you should go.”_

The few seconds it had taken for the vampire to gather her clothes in her shaking hands and run out the door had been some of the most excruciating moments of Hajime’s life. She had been convinced that once this would be over with, that once Tooru would be gone, she’d breathe easier. She did. But this time, it was not air she inhaled. It was the faint smell of salt, and just when she was about to curse Tooru, her and her humanity and her pink cheeks that she knew were strained with tears, she realized it was her own tears she could smell.

&

They played an elaborate game of cat and mouse. Hajime chased after her and Tooru evaded her. They didn’t meet up for Tooru’s lessons anymore. Or at least that’s what she’d tell her she wanted in the letter she’d sent her. When they had to see each other, Tooru would look down at the floor, and Hajime would look at her. She looked at her every time, on every occasion she could seize, and maybe she’d grown comfortable in her staring because she knew Tooru wouldn’t look up, wouldn’t see the thousand apologies in her eyes or the thin line of her lips, but she’d be the only one who would know anyway.

&

“You never told us why you stopped seeing her.”

Hajime cracked one eye open, meeting the gazes of her lovers. They had all insisted a bath would do her good, and so here they were, in the bath up on the first level of the installation. There were five levels of bath connected with each other by flights of stairs carved into the hillside of the mountain. Hajime had always preferred being high up, it gave her an impression of control. She could see any enemy coming from miles away if she was high enough to.

She was broken out of her thoughts by a hand cupping her cheek, tilting her head until she was looking at them again. She smiled, a small, sad thing, and she tried to brush it off. Her eyes trailed on the lower levels of the baths. That’s when she saw her. A tall silhouette stepping inside the warm water, pale skin gleaming in the light of the silver moon, her beautiful reflection on the water set in disarray by the ripples her entrance had caused at the surface. Her long hair was loose on her shoulders, and she let the brown curls soak, tilting her neck until the back of her head was under the water. Hajime knew if she’d been there with her, right now, she’d see a blush blooming on her skin.

A body pressed close to hers, arms wrapping themselves around her shoulders. Anika smiled against the skin of her neck, whispering three little words that Hajime thought were more than true. “She is beautiful.” Sakura had taken her hand and in hers, her head tilted toward the bath where Tooru was, and Hajime knew they were all looking her way. At least she should feel happy that they were not jealous, or vengeful. They look happy and relaxed, like they had moments before. She was glad. But something about watching Tooru from afar like this, with them, when she could have been… with her instead… it made her heart ache.

“She is.”

Yuki nudged her leg, still playing with Ursa’s hair, the other woman completely melting against her. The look in the taller’s eyes was one she’d given her only a handful of time since they’d met. She knew what to expect before her lover could even voice her thought.

“What did you do, Hajime?”

The Queen sighed.

“She wanted more, and I couldn’t give her that. That’s all there is to it.”

Emiko’s intense gaze hadn’t left Tooru, and Hajime knew that look in her eyes. She was wondering about something. The Queen was already awaiting something bad, but what actually got out of her mouth was so, so much worst than she could have ever imangined.

“Than you won’t mind if I take my shot?”  
“NO!”

Emiko’s smile said it all before Hajime’s brain could really catch on. She cursed herself once she did. She’d fallen way too easily for that one, she should have known better but to pay attention to what her lover was saying. Now, she couldn’t stop the images from forming in her brain. Images of Tooru with someone new. Her laughter and her smiles, and her pretty eyes, all directed at another woman who would love her like she deserved.

Anika hugged her close and she let herself melt against her, hiding her face in the crook of her neck. Maybe here, everything would go away. At least she could pretend, just for a few minutes, while she closed her eyes.

Except now Tooru was on her mind. That wasn’t new, but Tooru kissing that one recruit that has been flirting with her since her first day here was new. And it made her clench her hands into fists, blood pounding in her ears.

Sakura had leaned in to kiss the tip of her nose just as she opened her eyes again, her soft voice soothing and calming down the strigoï’s rage growing in the back of her mind.

“Tell us what this is really about, Hajime.”

She looked to the side again, and this time, when her eyes fell on Tooru, she couldn’t hold back a pitiful smile. She choked on sobs she’d never let them hear, and she willed her tears to go away, to disappear into the back of her mind. The images of Tooru sleeping soundly in the arms of another wouldn’t go away, though.

“I can’t give her what she wants.”  
“You’ve said that already.”  
“It’s the truth. I can’t.”  
“Can’t, or won’t?”

Tooru was getting out of the water. Droplets ran down her skin like jewels, and she sat at the edge of the bath, her towel wounded around her, as she worked the knots out of her long hair with a brush and braided the locks just like Hajime had thought her how to. She couldn’t really tell why, but seeing her do such a normal task made her chest all warm and fuzzy, as if, even if it had been just a small, mundane part of it, Hajime did impact her life.

“I don’t know, Emiko.”  
“Than figure it out, because I was not lying earlier. She’s gorgeous.”  
“Shut up.”  
“Hey, watch it, or I’ll kick your ass!”  
“I’d like to see you try, princess.”  
“That’s it, you little prick!”

Hajime laughed when the vampire collided with her, trying to wrestle her into the water. She was glad for the distraction her lover offered her. It helped take her mind off of everything happening around her. And if, maybe, the image of Tooru and Emiko together was slightly less unbearable than the rest, it was only because she knew the vampire as well she knew herself. She’d make Tooru happy. And even if Hajime suffered, at the end of the day, if her beautiful ex lover could find love again in the arms of a trustworthy suitor, she’d be glad.

&

She didn’t really know how they ended up kissing, or when exactly she had gotten rid of both her shirt and Tooru’s, her hands travelling along the soft skin and committing every parcel of it to memory. Hajime simply knew she had almost gone mad when she’d seen that little bitch flirting with her Tooru, smirking with way too much teeth and pulling innuendos after innuendos out of that ass of hers. And they were not tasteful. Hajime was by no mean innocent, but she’d heard new levels of shit today that almost had her leaping at the woman so she could make her shut her trap. Tooru had been polite, for the sake of diplomacy, because Amber Delora was from a neighboring kingdom they were trying to form a military alliance with. She’d been playful as well at first, which maybe the other vampire had taken as a confirmation that her advances would be well received.

Tooru had tried to excuse herself when she became more persistent, but Delora had not gotten the message, and Hajime hadn’t been able to keep her calm when that brat had reached for Tooru’s arm and had pulled her too close for the strangers they were. She’d been in front of the emissary in seconds, pulling the brown haired vampire behind her, a snarl on her lips she hoped was subtle enough it would not come off as offensive. Delora had glanced at the two of them before locking eyes with Hajime, and it might have been impressive how she held the gaze of a Queen for so long if it had been under and any other circumstances, before the shameless woman was rolling her eyes and walking away. Hajime didn’t let go of Tooru until she had disappeared down the hall.

And suddenly they were in one of the dark hallways of the west tower no one used anymore, Tooru’s legs wrapped around her waist and her mouth leaving a trail of kisses on her jaw and her neck. Their hips rocked together in an harmonized rythme, drawing raspy gasp from the woman in her arms. Tooru snuck her hands into her hair, untying the braid with rushed fingers. Hajime shuddered under her touch. There was something about Tooru that had drawn her in from the very first moment they met. Years and years later, it was still the same. But now, after so long spent apart, it was as if she’d been holding her breath. As if Tooru had her breathe again for the first time since she’d sent her away. It scared her how much she realized she missed the woman’s touch.

Hajime inhaled sharply against Tooru’s neck, her lips pressed to her skin in a reverent kiss, before she moved on to that one spot behind her ear that always had her lover squirm in her hold. The other woman pulled her closer, a moan reaching the Queen’s ears. She smiled. Tooru pulled her in a heated kiss again, and Hajime could only describe the sound that came out of her lips as a purr when she pushed her lover’s skirt up her thighs and slipped a hand underneath.

They spent the day in each other’s arms on the cold floor of an unused hallway in the west tower, and even if it was not the most comfortable of places, and she could hear the strong gusts of wind against the stone walls from outside, she wouldn’t have changed a thing about it. Tooru had let her take care of her, her hands curled into her raven locks, pulling almost painfully at times, and her nails digging into the skin of her shoulders. She’d held her close, pressing Hajime’s head against her chest. The strigoï had smiled softly down at her every time she brought out a cry or a whine past those lips, her fingers pressing in all of the right places she knew had her lover’s toes curl and her back arching up into her.

Hours later, she laid there on the floor, Tooru tucked into her side. She couldn’t find sleep. She had too much to think about. The Queen knew things had changed, a while ago. Even though she tried to deny it, she couldn’t do anything about it. She didn’t want to, not anymore. Hajime never wanted to be away from her vampire like this again. She wanted that day to last forever, and for Tooru to be lulled to a peaceful sleep like this every day forever. She wanted to continue kissing her for the rest of their lives. She wanted to be the only one in Tooru’s life just like she would be the only one in hers. And she wanted so much more.

When her lover woke up, she looked up at her with surprise in her eyes before she sat up, turned away from her and started to collect her clothes in one hand while she tried to tame down her wild and disheveled curls with the other. Hajime sat up again as she was slipping on her white shirt and trying to tuck it into her untied skirt. She wrapped her arms around her waist and tucked her chin on her shoulder. She heard Tooru’s breath hitch in her throat. The vampire really didn’t mean for her voice to come out so husky. It sent a shiver running down Tooru’s spine.

“Where are you running off to? It’s still early.”

Tooru tried to break out of her hold, but she wouldn’t let go. She huffed and sent her a glare over her shoulder before looking away quickly. Hajime couldn’t hold back an amused smile.

“I should go.”  
“Why? It’s nice here. And we haven’t talked about last night yet.”  
“Is there anything to talk about?”

Hajime hummed softly. She pressed a kiss to her lover’s shoulder before pressing her close again.

“Well, I haven’t gotten to apologize yet, nor ask if you’d allow me to court you, properly this time. But, if you’d rather run off and join Delora instead, I would concede defeat and let you go on with your life without any other interference.”

There was disbelief in Tooru’s voice when she turned around to look back at her, searching her eyes for any lie she could decipher. She probably hadn’t realized the hand holding up her skirt had let go of the fabric and instead had intertwined their fingers.

“You… you want to court me?”

Hajime smiled up at her and pecked her lips once before pulling her onto her lap and slipping her hands under her shirt, stroking her back in feather like touches that had Tooru’s lips press into a thin line.

“Yes. I want to court you. And have you sleep in my bed again, because let’s be honest, we simply can’t make a habit out of sneaking up here to meet up every time we want to see each other.”  
“You said you hadn’t gotten to apologize yet.”  
“Ah, yes, I thought it was well past time that I offer you my most sincere apology. I acted like a dick. And I treated you badly. That is unforgivable. I’d understand if you wished to decline my offer, but I thought you should knommph-”

She smiled against Tooru’s lips before kissing back, taking great joy in the fact that the beautiful vampire had hugged her close to her chest with a renewed fervor, humming against her lips. They stayed lock in that embrace for what seemed like hours and yet were mere seconds, holding each other close.

When they broke apart, Tooru pressed her forehead against hers, like she’d done so long ago the first time they kissed, and the small smile on her lips was worth more than anything Hajime had ever owned in her long, long life.

“Can you give me some time?”  
“Of course. I’ll wait as long as you need.”  
“Good.”

&

She broke her opponent’s neck before moving to the one coming from the left, and he raised his sword over his head just as she ran him through with hers, piercing his heart with one clean strike. He fell back when she pushed him away, a lifeless body adding to the growing numbers of dead soldiers on the floor of their home. The palace had been attacked at dawn, the southern army trying to hit while they knew their weakness to sunlight would prove to be a handicap. It only served to fuel the vampire’s will to fight to greater heights. They tore through the attackers in a matter of hours, and the sun was setting in the sky as they finished off the last remnants of the warriors sent to collect their heads. The Council had already sent an ambush of fifty men, wearing armor that would protect them from the harmful rays at least for now, after the King’s squadron that had been overseeing the siege from the forest’s side, hiding in the shadows like cowards. Hajime snarled as she tore through the last human standing in front of her, and the man’s blood splattered the side of her face in droplets. She licked what had gotten on her lips, and she tasted fear like a bitter poison in his blood. He knew he was going to die before he even stepped in the fight. Pitiful. They all were. Little cowards devoid of any honor.

Keiji had just finished off the last of the humans that had tried to come for her, tucking the woman close as she almost delicately bit down on her neck, tearing the skin and licking the drops running down the human’s throat. The attacker fell limp in her hold in a matter of seconds. Her sister threw the corpse away with a bored expression on her face as she looked around, scanning the room for any sign of life. Their eyes met, and they both got on the move at the same time, marching almost in synch out of the hall. They made quick work of killing anyone that was still breathing on their way down the flight of stairs leading in the inner courtyard of the palace, from where they could still hear the clanking of swords and the crashing of armored bodies collapsing on the ground.

The sight that greeted Hajime’s eyes was breathtaking.

The Queens’ guard had spread out around the castle at the very first tells of an attack, helping the foot soldiers or protecting the servants that had been caught by humans all around the palace’s ground, and, of course, guarding their Queens’ back. She knew Koushi was somewhere in the west wing, helping out in the servants’ quarters, and Yaku as well as her wards were helping her. Tetsurou and Satori had most probably led their stationed troops to the north front, where the humans had initially started spewing out from, running across the snow covered sides of the mountain and invading the gates. Semi, Ushijima and Futakuchi would have followed them there, along with a couple of other girls from their division.

That left Aone, Bokuto and Tooru to cover for them.

Aone was making her way through the dozen men on her side of the field, her shield raised in front of herself as she broke their ranks with powerful strikes of her claymore, cutting down enemy after enemy without ever slowing her pace. Bokuto had taken cover up on top of one of the marble pillars standing tall around the courtyard, crouched down with a knee propped up, her bow held firmly in her palm and her arrows taking down soldier after soldier in a steady beat almost like the one of a drum. The two women were some of the greatest warriors Hajime had ever known. They’d fought by her side for centuries now.

But it’s not them that got her breath stuck in her throat.

Tooru had always been beautiful, everyone knew that, it was a fact. And she’d risen up the ranks of the women’s division of the army quickly, her talent as a strategist as well as a fighter proving to be unmatched by most of her peers. She’d had Yaku praise her on occasions, something the small vampire almost never did. Hajime had overseen her training herself for quite some time, and she’d been floored by how much Tooru improved in such little time. The woman now stood on the same level as vampires twice her age.

But this was the first time in the fifty years Tooru had been here that Hajime saw her fight against humans from this close up. It was exhilarating to watch. They’d been taken by surprise, and many of them had already retired for the day when the attack began. Tooru apparently had been one of them, since she did not wear her armor, only clad in her white shirt and black skirt. The hem of it, longer in the back, trailed behind her as she twirled to block two stikes coming her way. Her sword blocked the human’s in a perfect hold while her other hand shot up to grip the second soldier’s wrist, stopping his arm. She held her position while the foolish men tried to push down on her with always more and more strength, but that would prove to be their undoing.

Their screams echoed in the courtyard when their elbows dislocated and their weapons fell from their limp grasp and to the floor. Tooru cut them down in a wide arc of her sword, and she moved to the two other humans watching from afar with frightened and haunted looks in their eyes. They fell to the floor, necks broken, a second later. Their peers soon joined them in a heap of broken bones and bloodied flesh.

Tooru’s chocolate brown eyes found hers, and the Queen marched down the last steps before making her way to where she stood, in the middle of the carnage she had created. The soldier bowed when she approached, rising back up at her command, before Hajime wrapped an arm around her waist and crashed their lips together, growling low in her throat. Her lover melted in the strigoï’s arms, just for a few seconds, allowing herself to appreciate the moment and cupping Hajime’s cheek with her free hand. When they broke apart, Bokuto was cheering for them, bravely ignoring her Queen’s glare, and Aone had respectfully bowed once in her direction before looking away, giving her report to Keiji. Bokuto leaped down from the pillar at Keiji’s demand, bowing before her Queen and nuzzling against her cheek with a smile for just a second before the vampire was pushing her away, an annoyed yet fond look on her face. Keiji let herself be pulled by the hand toward the doors of the courtyard, and the two women disappeared on the other side. Aone followed after them. They were heading out to finish this battle.

Hajime’s hold on Tooru’s waist hadn’t loosened. When she looked back at her, the warrior held her breath, staring into the beast’s eyes with surprise.

Tooru had learned long ago of what exactly being a strigoï entailed. Apart from the enhanced senses, strength and speed, those vampires were more in tuned with their primal instincts. Some of them had even reverted to the state of beasts, devouring hearts of humans and night children alike. The stories Tooru had heard told of monsters the likes of which even the oldest and wisest of vampires were no match for.

Hajime wasn’t like that. She had told her once that she had chosen, long ago, that she would never be like her kin, and that she would live as any normal vampire like her sisters. Tooru had voiced her concern, because if she needed to eat to remain alive, how could she deprive herself of that? Hajime had laughed, and explained that blood was more than enough sustenance for strigoïs, and that anything beyond that could be seen as enhancers. It would turn them into vicious, unstoppable, mindless beasts. It made them stronger, yes, but at the cost of what little humanity they possessed. And that was a line Hajime wouldn’t cross.

Tooru had seen her in her true form before. Often when they faced enemies, or when they were on the chase for traitors amongst their ranks and things like that, Hajime would let herself loose. She’d shed the appearance of mere vampire and take on the form of a strigoï. Tooru had been mesmerized the first time she witnessed the change, or at least, the first time she had vivid memories of it. She’d learned not long ago that Hajime had worn her real form that night she saved her, only she couldn’t remember clearly. But that one time in the great hall, for the execution of a vampire that had harmed one of Queen Sugawara’s wards, Tooru remembered being truly entranced by Hajime. She was taller, in that form, and stronger. So much stronger. In her disguise, she was already very well built, but the strigoï was on another level entirely. Her fangs were longer, sharper, and the teeth next to them were just as sharp if not as long. Her talons had become claws that could tear through flesh and bones with such ease it was almost scary. And her eyes…

Eyes like the ones of the dragons in the fairy tales Tooru’s older sister would always whisper to her in the dead of night, when their father was sleeping and they couldn’t. Eyes that were littered with silver and golden flecks as if they were made of the galaxies you could see in the sky of Styria at night. Eyes so piercing that she felt they would see right through her soul when they met her gaze.

And right now, those very eyes were full of desire and lust. They stared into her own eyes before slowly lowering they gaze until they reached her lips, and she realized she could taste blood on her tongue. The left side of Hajime’s face was covered in it, dried drops covering the bridge of her nose like freckles. The strigoï’s slit pupils stared back at her with a gleam in them she’d only ever seen once or twice before. Hajime hadn’t let her see that side of her as much as she’d liked when they were together. She said she feared she’d lose control. But she did cave in a few times, and those were the times that left Tooru all hot and bothered during the day when she couldn’t fall asleep, and she’d touch herself and imagine it was Hajime that was fucking her so good and slow like she had on those special days.

Right now, the Queen had that exact look she’d given her in her eyes. But Tooru couldn’t let her have what she so clearly desired, what the strigoï in her so clearly desired. They still had a battle to finish.

The only problem was that she knew strigoïs were hard to convince to back off when it came to lust. If Hajime truly wanted her, now, she’d be hard to stop. It was the only thing about herself that the Queen had admitted to Tooru she hated with her whole being. That’s why she always made sure her lover truly desired her before letting her facade fall. And that was why Tooru knew where to hit for the other woman to let go of her. Hajime had told her to use those advantages if ever she felt like she needed them, no matter the situation.

But there were other ways. She knew Hajime wasn’t completely lost to her desire yet, or else she’d be kissing the life out of her already. She was holding back. Tooru had her work cut out for her. She leaned in, kissed the corner of the strigoï’s mouth, before putting her hand on her chest and pushing. She didn’t put any real force behind it, that wasn’t what mattered. A growl reached her ears, and the grip on her waist became iron like. Hajime chased after her lips before settling on her cheek, than her jaw, when she wouldn’t let her kiss her.

She waited for a moment, before she whispered softly:

“Let me go. You said you’d give me time.”

The growl became a whine, and soon the kisses on her neck became nibbles and light bites, the long fangs poking the skin just hard enough to draw a little blood. Hajime pulled back after that, letting Tooru take a step back of her own as they stared at each other. The strigoï was still there, powerful, dangerous and so beautiful, and Tooru couldn’t help but ask:

“Are you okay?”

Hajime chuckled warmly, an amused look on her face, even as she struggled to hold herself back and took deep breaths to try and calm herself down.

“I almost hurt you, yet you ask me if I’m fine.”

She smiled up at her, and wow, that was a lot different than before.

“I love you, you know that. Of course I’m worried about you.”

The Queen gazed at her with the softest look Tooru had even been given in her life, and she held her breath waiting for the words that fell past Hajime’s lips in a whisper, as if the dead souls around them would hear if she didn’t.

“I love you too.”

Her Tooru was stifling tears and beaming up at her from where she stood in a sea of blood soaked snow and she was the most enchanting sight that had graced Hajime’s eyes in centuries. Her lover carefully took a step forward, holding out her hand for her to take if she felt ready enough, and she did, careful as well. Chocolate brown orbs stared into her beastly eyes and she felt something pull at her heart, nothing like the desire she felt before. Something new… something she had no idea she could feel in this form, or at all really.

Tooru led them down the hall Akaashi and the others had taken before them, holding her hand in hers like it was her greatest joy again, her sword in the other, and Hajime could only follow after her, stepping further and further down the path she thought she couldn’t walk, the love of her life pulling her always so much deeper under.

&

“So you finally got the guts to ask, huh?”  
“Oh, shut up, Emiko.”  
“Did she accept? Are you courting her now?”  
“She asked for some time to think.”  
“And what did you say?”  
“That I’d wait. Why? What did you think I’d say?”  
“Oh, honey, don’t take it like that! It’s just that sometimes you can be… a little too honest.”  
“Waaay too honest.”  
“What?”  
“It’s nothing to be ashamed of, we just wanted to make sure you didn’t rush her-”  
“I would never!”  
“Not intentionally, but you could have said something that suggested otherwise.”  
“What is it exactly that you said?”  
“Well, I said that I’d wait for as long as she needs.”  
“Wow, what a dork.”  
“Shut it, Emiko, or you’ll be drinking pork blood for the next century.”  
“Is that any way to treat one of your dearest friends?”  
“You’re my dearest annoyance if anything, don’t start getting too cocky.”  
“You wound me, your majesty! What would your lover think of the way you treat us, fair young maidens that have given you our hearts?”  
“Maidens? Really?”  
“And you call me a dork.”  
“Let a woman dream, would you?”  
“Whatever you say, young maiden.”  
“I regret this already.”  
“You should. We’re not leaving this down for the rest of your life.”

&

“Tooru?”  
“Hm?”  
“You are aware you don’t need your hood here, right?”  
“O-oh, I know! It’s just that, hum… I just, I felt… a bit cold. Hence the… hood.”

Hajime quirked an eyebrow, disbelief written all over her face. Tooru winced and tightened her hold over her cloak, hugging the fabric to her body. The strigoï watched her hover by the door as if she was ready to bolt at any moment. She looked nervous, almost like she was expecting, anticipating, something to leap at her from a dark corner of the room. Hajime actually started to worry when she wouldn’t give up the nerve wrecking state and kept sending concerned glances her way. The Queen tried to think of something she could have done since this evening, when everything had been fine, that could have upset Tooru.

Maybe she’d angered her somehow, but that was unlikely. When Tooru was pissed at something she’d done or said, she let her know, and rather loudly at that. So that couldn’t be it. The next possibility was that Tooru thought she had angered her. She dug into her memory but nothing came up. Her lover had spent the night in her room, like she did most of the time. Hajime had told her times and times again she loved it when she slept with her here, so that was out of the way. Maybe something had happened today that Tooru felt guilty about. Coaxing it out of her would prove to be quite a challenge, so better let it come out on its own.

But the hood thing seemed off. Vampires didn’t usually get cold. And Tooru would have asked for cuddles by now if she’d really felt chilly. Besides, her cloak wasn’t that warm anyway. She’d be much more comfortable if she’d come and sit on her lap with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders, like she usually did.

Something definitely didn’t add up.

“Tooru, what is really going on? Did something happen today while you were doing your rounds?”  
“N-no, no! Nothing happen, I promise! I’m just super cold! That’s all! I’m fine!”

The nervous chuckle that was pulled from Tooru’s throat sounded anything but fine. Hajime sighed before she leaned against the backrestf her chair again.

“You know you can tell me anything, right?”

She didn’t expect that to be the thing that would crack Tooru’s little show, but she was glad it did. Her lover winced, her guilt overcoming her nervousness as she looked away quickly, embarrassed for reasons Hajime didn’t know. She heard her sigh loudly before whispering:

“Promise you won’t freak out?”

The words came easily, not a second of hesitation in her mind, because she meant them.

“I promise.”

So Tooru pulled down her hood.

She hadn’t expected much, to be honest. Maybe the tips of her long ears had turned a darker shade of purple, it had happened to a friend of hers. A vampire’s skin color sometimes changed as they aged. Tooru had just celebrated her 80th birthday, and her more human traits had slowly started to disappear. Her skin had taken a more lavender tinge, her fangs had become a little bit longer, and her talons had as well. Those chocolate eyes Hajime loved so much had also changed, swirls of gold hues mixing with the shade of brown in her beautiful irises. Needless to say she was mesmerizing.

So it really came as a shock when the hood was taken off and revealed short locks of brown hair that curled around the shell of her ears and fell in front of her eyes. From here, it seemed like it wasn’t much longer in the back. Short brown strands on top of her head stuck in a hundred different directions, disheveled and messy, as if ruffled by the wind. Tooru’s neck was bare, which was a sharp contrast to the usual long hair that framed it.

She found herself awestruck, and her silence was wholly appreciative, if not somewhat greatly shocked. Tooru hadn’t talked about wanting to cut her hair before. She seemed to like it fine as it was. Hajime wouldn’t have tried to make her change her mind if she did wish to cut it, but she hadn’t seen it coming, that was for sure. Of course, she was still beautiful. That wouldn’t ever change.

But her lover seemed to take the quiet for an entirely different outcome.

“You hate it, don’t you? Oh God, I didn’t think it was that bad… I… It was an accident during training, and Futakuchi fixed it as best as she could, but I know it doesn’t look really…”

Tooru trailed off when Hajime got off from her chair, walking toward her with her mouth set in a deep scowl and her eyebrows furrowed. She anxiously watched her come closer, her breath stuck in her throat just as the Queen came to a stop before her. A hand reached up for her hair, and she really wasn’t expecting a ruffle and a smile on her lover’s lips of all things to happen at that moment.

“I love it. You look sexy as hell.”

Tooru blushed a dark pink before she tried for a cocky smile, but it still came off more stressed than cheerful. That didn’t matter, they’d get there.

“You… you mean that?”

It was Hajime’s turn to smile, an amused quirk of her lips that had Tooru weak in the knees. She wrapped her arms around her lover’s torso to steady herself, leaning her head into Hajime’s touch while she played with her hair.

“I mean it.”

Suddenly, Tooru got hoisted up and thrown over Hajime’s shoulder, her lover’s hands on her backside and her legs, steadying her in her hold as she turned around and swiftly made her way toward the bedroom. Getting over her shock, the vampire laughed, a joyful sound that had Hajime pick up the pace and smile as well.

“Hajime, I thought you had a meeting with the Council in ten minutes!”  
“My sisters will have to wait. I’ve got you now and I’m not letting you go, you might just get snatched from me if I do.”

The laughter bubbling up Tooru’s throat didn’t stop until Hajime had thrown her on the bed, and then the chuckles turned into soft sighs as the strigoï took her in her arms again and muffled the sound with her lips.

&

“Where is she?”  
“After all those lectures about being late, on top of that!”  
“I heard Oikawa had an accident in training today. A recruit chopped her hair off and it’s no longer than Kiyoko’s now.”  
“… oh.”  
“Yeah. They’re boning.”  
“Big time.”  
“So… do we just wait here, or…?”  
“You can go, Satori. Something tells me we won’t hear from Hajime anytime soon.”  
“Get it, Haji!”  
“Yeah, you go, girl!”  
“You know if she hears you, you’re dead, right?”  
“She wouldn’t.”  
“She would.”

&

Tooru knew Hajime had been with a lot of women before in her long, long life. She knew she’d maybe have to face lovers more possessive of their Queen, and since she’d been the one to lock the vampire in a courtship, she’d also be the one those lovers would take their resentment on.

She had expected Queens and warriors, countesses and nobles. She expected to have to dodge out of the way of arrows and handle duels to the death. It seemed a bit extreme, of course, but Iwaizumi Hajime was a woman of wealth, power and beauty. People would kill for a chance to glance at her face. Tooru would kill for her if she’d asked, she’d do just about anything for her lover. And so she was ready for whatever may come out of this event. It happened every century, she was told, and was held in Styria. The Ascent of Rebellum, where every member of the fifth battalion of the vampires that had won the Rebellum War more than a thousand years ago gathered. It was truly the event of the century.

She had expected a lot of things. She had not, however, expected a princess. A bitchy, petty and arrogant princess with hair the color of silver and a face set in what most would find a seductive smile. Tooru knew there was too much teeth showing for that to be the case. This was a threat, a barely veiled one at that. And considering what she’d been anticipating for, this was… disappointing, at best.

But Hajime had made her promise she’d keep her fists and words to herself, no matter what was said. And she intended to keep this promise, if only to prove that out of the two of them, she acted like a woman, and not this little snake who’d only insulted her every chance she got since they’d been introduced. And, yes, she knew an off hand comment about how pale she looked and ‘how she really should have gone for red and not blue, Hajime had always loved red on her lovers better’ wasn’t really an insult. But it was there, in her tone and in her gaze, everytime she turned her head to look at her better with those narrowed eyes and pursed lips! She wasn’t imagining it!

Tamara Seruki, or princess Tamara, was a woman of many words who liked to flaunt her thin waist and shoulders and dresses that made her backside and bosom look bigger. She made every guard in the vicinity take a second look at her with wide eyes and envious glances sent at Hajime, who, as if that hadn’t been enough already, had smiled at her like she was meeting the love of her life for the first time again or something!

Hajime had introduced them with a sharp glare sent Tooru’s way – okay, maybe she’d been balling her fists into the side of her dress, but who could blame her when the woman wouldn’t stop flirting with her lover – and a kind smile in Tamara’s direction.

“Tooru, this is princess Tamara of Western Europa, a… very good friend of mine.”

The smile on her lips had brightened, and it made something in Tooru’s heart twist painfully.

“Tamy, this is Oikawa Tooru.”

No ‘my lover’ or ‘the woman I’m courting’. Just… her name, said as if Hajime had been talking about how good the blood in her cup had tasted or how a distant relative no one really cared about was doing. She’d said it as if it was in passing, as if her very name had been a simple comment about the weather outside that night.

She’d hated it.

Hajime had started off another conversation with Tamy, something about old memories that the two women obviously had no interest in filling Tooru up on. She’d stood there, completely still, for minutes which turned into an hour, ignored to the point where once she’d had to take a step back to get out of the way because the two vampires had stepped closer together and were touching each other, Hajime’s hand on Tamara’s where she’d left it on her arm, in a touch more fitting of lovers than ‘good friends’.

She’d intended to leave, because there was only for so long she’d allow them to make a fool of her, but just as she had thrown a ‘goodbye’ their way that had been blatantly ignored, Hajime sending her away with a careless wave of her hand, Tamara trailed her eyes on her. Two crystal blue orbs that held nothing but contempt in them when she stared straight at her.

She’d stepped up to her and, with a false apologetic look on her face, took her by the arm and faced Hajime with a smile.

“Oh, Haji, we can catch up more later, I’d love to get to know Tooru a bit better! We’ll go for a walk and join you later, for supper. We’ve got so much to talk about, I’m sure we’ll become fast friends.”

She’d said the last bit to Tooru, neck craned to look at her with a much too sweet smile on her lips. Hajime had looked delighted by the princess’ idea, and yet when her lover threw a look over her shoulder as Tamara led them away, the strigoï had only a warning glare to spare for her before she was approached by some other vampires in attendance.

That had been what led them here, Tooru walking alongside princess Tamara in the hallways of what she’d called her home for the last century. She tried to find comfort in the knowledge that she was in familiar territory, but the way the other vampire walked as of she owned the damn place had her set her gaze aside, down on the floor, because she couldn’t bare to look at her no more.

She knew they weren’t taking a walk together to get to know each other better. She knew there was no real sympathy in the blonde woman’s heart for her. And that was why she wasn’t surprised with the shift in Tamara’s demeanor once they were out of hear shot.

“Had she not introduced you to me, I would’ve believed you were simply a servant trailing after her like a lost little puppy.”

An amused smile was sent her way as they passed the staircase leading up to the west tower. Tooru kept quiet, if only because she wanted to prove to this malicious woman she would not be flustered by so little a jab. It did not faze the vampire, who only looked ahead and started talking again.

“I thought I’d see red roses and gold hanging from your neck, or maybe even pearls or rubies. But I guess she didn’t want to waste jewelry on a soldier. Still, I expected at least something. But you’re barren of any sign of love from her. She didn’t even look at you once since I’ve met you.”

Breathe. Breathe. Just breathe.

She would not allow this snake in red to get the better of her. She wouldn’t. She knew her worth and she knew Hajime loved her. And if she hadn’t given her any fancy necklace or anything, it was only because she knew she couldn’t wear any, with all the training she did. That was all.

“Of course, there’s not so much to look at anyway. You’re just like the others. Like Yuki. She’s pitiful, always hiding behind her books and scrolls. Plain and simple Yuki, and dear Emiko… with a mouth like hers, it was only a matter of time before Hajime had her cast aside. You’ll be just like them, no doubt. She always gets tired of you pitiful, little girls.”  
“Yet she’s came back to you always, is that it?”

She hadn’t been able to stop herself. Insulting her was one thing. Insulting women she’d come to learn and admire for their strength and spirit was another. And she’d be damned if she didn’t say anything to those ridiculous insults the princess was throwing around.

Tamara actually looked shocked she talked back, but her surprise bleed into a sneer, and before she knew it the two vampires had came to a stop in the middle of the hallway, facing each other with glares on their faces and talons at the ready.

The blonde haired woman snarled at her, spitting words at her Tooru thought were more fitting of an ill mannered young man than a lady.

“She belongs to me, whore. She’s mine, and you’ll do well to remember that. This won’t last. You’re just her newest toy she wanted to repair and fix into her perfect little soldier. But she’ll tire of you soon. She’ll cast you aside. I know her better than you ever will.”

Tooru met her words with a scathing glare and a bare of her fangs, but she kept quiet. She knew where this was going. Tamara was filling her up so she’d make a mistake that would come to cost her, and the guards coming up from the hallway a corner away would have made for perfect witnesses of her attack on a foreign princess. With motive – jealousy of a lover – and Hajime’s favor to Tamara she’d made quite clear since the start, no one would believe a word she’d say for herself.

She stepped back, took a deep breath and steeled herself, so that the only thing those guards saw when they rounded the corner was an hysteric vampire full of jealousy and the carefully mastered look of mild concern on her face.

“Your majesty, General. Is everything alright here?”  
“Of course. We’re just talking. Go on, now, we wouldn’t want you to be late for your patrol outside, would we?”

The step back in the princess’ plan had her seething, that much was obvious. Tooru let a smirk paint itself across her lips. It would take much, much more for a woman like that to get in her way, and that little prick of a princess should start realizing that about now.

But she didn’t care much to stick around and decipher new steps of the grand master plan Tamara had in store for her now. She’d done her part of socializing with spoiled brats for tonight.

So with a bow and a polite goodbye, which was more than she thought the vampire deserved, she left. The burning glare boring into the back of her head all the way to the end of the hallway was but a mild discomfort compared to what she’d had to endured all night long so far, and it was easy to cast to the back of her mind.

Yet it didn’t erase the grip of steel on her heart as she remembered how Hajime had looked at Tamara earlier, in the grand hall.

&

“Tooru, you’re back.”  
“Yeah, I wanted to see you before heading out again.”  
“I’m sorry, love, but I promised Tamara I’d join her for dinner tonight.”  
“Oh. That’s… that’s nice. I hope you have a great time.”

Hajime didn’t lift her eyes to met hers even once since she’d stepped into the room. Tooru came to wrap her arms around her shoulders in a hug, hoping she’d at least get a few minutes of intimacy with her lover before she was off meeting up with the despicable woman she’d left behind in a hallway half way across the palace.

The Queen didn’t get the memo, quickly squeezing her in her arms once before pulling back and walking to the doors. Tooru inhaled once to steady the hieratic beating of her heart, trying to swallow back the pain, before exhaling and opening her eyes again. She turned to face the doors she thought would be closing behind Hajime.

She didn’t expect her lover to have been staring at her from the entrance to her room, a strange look in her eyes. She was hovering by the door, a hand on the handle, and a reassuring smile graced her lips as Tooru met her burning gaze. Her words were soft, a sharp contrast to what she said in a careful tone.

“Would you mind sleeping in your room today? I have things to take care of and I wouldn’t want to disturb your sleep.”

Tooru tried for teasing, even though she knew her smile was falling on her lips, as she said:

“What, you’re gonna have your sercret lover over or something?”

Hajime had an indecipherable look on her face as she closed the door behind her. She didn’t answer, and Tooru couldn’t keep her worries at bay any longer, her panic rising through her body as quickly as the most deadly of poisons would. She took her head in her hands and let out a shuddering breath, before steadying herself the best she could and heading out as well. A sparring match would do her well right now, she truly needed to take her mind off of this.

&

“Hajime! I’m here!”

The Queen watched Tamara saunter past the threshold of her quarters, swaying her hips to a none existent beat and walking up to her with too much confidence in her steps.

“You almost had me waiting.”

The smile on her former lover’s face was one of vicious success Hajime hated with all her being, and she had to stifle the growl in her throat the Strigoï in her wanted to let out. She knew what Tamara was doing ever since she stepped foot in the palace, and she’d acted much sooner than this had she had seen an opportunity earlier. But she couldn’t have lashed out in front of all of the vampire world like she wanted to when the princess dared to say aloud that Tooru’s hair ‘truly looked like a rat’s nest, why don’t you keep it long, Hajime likes long hair better on her lovers’. It would have looked bad, and she might be a woman in love, but she was first and foremost a Queen, and as a Queen, she had to be formal and friendly with old lovers she’d foresaken. Especially when those lovers happened to be foreign royalty.

She’d hated the look on Tooru’s face as she’d introduced them, and she hated that she was the cause of it. She knew her lover’s mind was reeling with thoughts of what her carelessness meant, of why she’d been so laid back about her and yet seemed so taken with the princess. But it was a necessary step to take so Tamara would back off, at least slightly, until Hajime would talk to her on her own. If she’d been herself, at that moment, if she’d shown just how much she loved Tooru to the princess of all people, she knew things could have escalated between the two women. And she knew which side she’d be expected to take should either of them start something. She needed the two vampires to behave, at least for now, and to ensure they would, she needed Tamara to think nothing much of Tooru. It would keep her safe from the blonde’s clutches.

All of that scheming would lead to this carefully crafted meeting between her and Tamara, who looked like the cat that had gotten the cream. Hajime almost wished she could do without the formalities so that they could cut to the important part of this meeting, where, in more polite words, she’d make sure Tamara knew she was spoken for and was no longer interested in those frankly disappointing encounters of theirs they use to have every time they saw each other.

Tamara had already started to make her way toward her with the very obvious intent of taking the closest seat to her or, worst, perching herself down on her Queen’s lap. Seeing as Hajime glared at her with furious intensity when she got to close, the princess elected to take a seat opposite of hers with an audible swallow.

She found her seductive air and bright smile again quicker than Hajime had expected, and under other circumstances, she might have applauded Tamara for her fast recovery. But she didn’t applaud for anyone who had dared to pretend to know every of her quirk or taste. Especially when that someone had used such false knowledge to insult her beloved Tooru’s appearance, which she found to be without a single fault.

“What is it you couldn’t wait to talk to me about, my love, that you had to drag us away from such a lovely dinner?”

Those sultry words and the provocation hidden underneath, a century ago, might have been appreciated. Now, however, they served to remind Hajime that the one person who would ever be allowed to use that tone with her, was most probably trying to push herself past the limits of her body so that the pain she’d had in her eyes would subdue. So that it would leave her burning, passionate heart alone.

No one really could have blamed her for the harshness of her tone when she gave her answer, seeing as this all was Tamara’s fault.

“I wanted to reiterate what I wrote in the letter I sent a few months back, in case you still had trouble understanding what, exactly, ‘I am now spoken for’ means.”

Tamara had the guts to look away with an air of confusion on her face.

“A letter? Oh, my love, you must mean the letters you sent your former lovers. Of course, I never received one. But I agree, it is a shame some can’t seem to understand that you’re not interested, like that little soldier you have trailing after you. She hasn’t received her rejection yet, it seems, seeing as she still thinks she has a chance with you.”

With her nose up in the air, a pout Hajime had long ago found alluring on her lips and a hand nonchalantly, or at least aiming for nonchalance, pulling at the collar of her shirt so that she exposed even more skin than the low cut of the V-neck she wore already did, Tamara was the picture of shameless.

However, as shameless as she could get, Tamara hadn’t thought it would result in the amused tilt of Hajime’s head back as she let out an amused, breathless laugh, and she had not been expecting the way the Strigoï, after having calmed down, raised a hand to her mouth to try and conceal her smile. Her eyes gleamed with a clear enjoyment of the situation, and yet somehow, even in such a state of delight, the Queen still radiated such raw power that it would scare half of the bravest men on Earth to death.

When she spoke, her voice held a finality to it that Tamara had never heard in centuries of knowing each other. It was something she’d bet only a few ones had ever heard before coming from the ruler. In that very moment, it was not a Queen that spoke, with the elegant curve of truths disguised as lies on her tongue, no, it was the warrior that had lead the fifth battalion of the Rebellum armies to victory. That voiced belonged to a protector, a warrior, a woman who had a purpose and would stop before nothing to reach it.

It made the ruthless certainty in her eyes all the more real.

“A chance? Oh no, princess, it’s never been a question of chance. That woman you speak so lowly of, she is the first one in centuries to bring out such feelings in me. I breathe only to see her smile. I wake for her every night and I live for her and only her. I dream of her lips and of her laugh, and she eclipses all of my worries with just a look. She is the best part of me. She awakens in me a desire the likes of which you, dear Tamy, could not even fathom. She is my moon and my stars, she is my forever and I’d rather die than be separated from her a moment longer.”

Hajime’s smile had turned into a smirk, something playful and happy, something Tamara, frozen to her seat and no longer bearing her too proud smile or her temperament of fire, knew wasn’t addressed to her. She was almost taken aback by her next words, but tried to reign in her humiliation.

“Are you still so convinced my beloved has no chance with me now, princess Tamara? Do you understand the extent of which you were out of line today, or shall I spell it out for you?”

Hajime leaned back in her chair with a satisfayed smile on her lips the vampire tried to ignore as she made her way out of the Queen’s quarters without another word.

&

She found Tooru passed out on top of the covers of her bed, still dressed in her training gears and a boot hanging off her feet, the other thrown to the floor next to her discarded sword. The scarce light of the small room came from the daylight streaming in a single, minuscule ray from the top of the closed shutters of the window. Tooru’s short hair was splayed around her head and created a halo of beautiful brown locks against the grey of the sheets. A little bit of drool coated the corner of her mouth. Her arms were tucked to her chest, her long fingers lightly gripping her loose shirt, as if she’d fallen asleep as she was unbuttoning it.

Hajime found the dress she had made by her seamstress for Tooru folded neatly on the chair by the corner of the room. That evening, when she’d first seen her lover step into the grand hall wearing the garment she’d sent her, the Queen had almost left her place on her throne so she could go to her. She knew better than anyone that a ruler could not do such a thing. But at that very moment, watching the love of her life dressed in her colors and displaying the most beautiful smile she’d ever seen, she would have groveled at her feet if Tooru had asked.

She didn’t get to tell her how mesmerizing she was, in the simple cut of the dress she wore as stunningly as she would have worn a royal gown, and that without a single piece of jewelry on her, or how happy Hajime found herself that she could be by her side and show her off to all of vampire royalty across the continent, before Tamara had made her appearance.

She wished she did earlier, when they were alone together, but it would have seemed like pity coming from a Queen seemingly love struck with another. No, Tooru deserved better than some embarrassing compliment thrown at her after such a cold demeanor from Hajime, especially since it would have been seconds before she told her she didn’t want to see her in her room for the day.

Hajime carded her fingers through the brown locks as gently as she could without waking her, careful to mind the sleep she knew light of her lover. She sat by her on the edge of the small bed, slipping her boot off and putting it down on the floor, before taking the vampire in her arms and properly tucking her into bed, under the sheets. She took off most of Tooru’s clothing, folding it and placing it on the chair, before slipping her dress off and joining her lover in her bed.

Hajime tucked her close to her chest, wrapping her arms around her middle and slipping a leg between Tooru’s. She couldn’t help but smile when her beloved subconsciously reached for her hands and intertwined their fingers together against her belly.

The next evening, as the grand hall was filled with boisterous laughter and excited chatter, Hajime tucked Tooru closer to her side, a possessive arm draped loosely around her hips as the General and the Queen dinned together. Some say princess Tamara was seen rushing out of the hall with her men in tow as she was departing early from the Kingdom, tears of frustration in her eyes. Others say they couldn’t notice anything else after Queen Iwaizumi presented her lover with a beautiful silver necklace, a simple, pretty thing that the General wore with pride for the rest of the festivities, the blue diamond as clear as the morning sky shining brightly from her neck.

&

Her eyes wouldn’t stay open, and no matter how hard she tried to stay awake, the heaviness of unconsciousness crept on her mind, numbing her senses. She couldn’t fight it off. Her arms wouldn’t move, her legs were pinned to the ground, and she felt more weak than ever before. More weak than she ever let herself become before. That poisoned blade the Demi-god had plunged in the flesh of her shoulder was effectively killing her, slowly gnawing at her mind to finally cave in and stop fighting back against the darkness.

She couldn’t see anything but flashes. Hints of soft shades and hues of chocolate brown. A pale purple almost white. Something wet, like a droplet, that smelt like salt, falling on her cheek. She could smell the fresh scent of lavender. Tooru. She was there, right there, just beyond her grasp. Echoes of cries and screams, breathless whispers of ‘stay with me, Hajime!’

She wanted to. She wanted to spend the rest of her days right here, with Tooru. Safe and sound. Drifting off to an endless sleep with her lover watching over her. She couldn’t realize, in the state she was in, how such a wish would be the most cruel thing she could ever inflict upon her lover.

She was about to give in and welcome the darkness with open arms when the smell of lavender became stronger. It was so close, an embrace like the softest of goodbyes, and yet so far away, because no matter how hard she wanted to reach out for her, she couldn’t move even the tip of her fingers.

Her lips were pressed against warm skin that tasted like salt and a thumb nudged her mouth open. The first drops of blood hit her tongue in quick succession. As she swallowed, she could feel herself come to her senses again. Beginning to come back from the dizziness of almost-death. Yet, as she reached for her lover and held her close, she knew something else in her had awakened. Something more primal. Something even more dangerous than death.

But Tooru wouldn’t let go of her, wouldn’t let go of the monster, even as Hajime tried to push her away, urge her to step back. Her lover held her close until she was the one shaking and the Strigoï had truly bit down, sharp fangs digging painfully into the skin. Hajime felt the change in her instincts. She could hear the fabric tearing where her claws were gripping Tooru’s shirt. She heard the grunt of pain leave her vampire’s lips when she tore through the skin next, biting down harder, drawing out more blood.

And yet neither of them pulled back.

&

When she came to again, Tooru felt strong, slender fingers carding through her hair with the softest of touch. She could taste blood on her tongue, faint, and probably her own. She’d bit down on her lower lip to keep from screaming, earlier, when fangs burning like fire sank into her neck. Her face had been tucked into someone’s shoulder. Vibrant red strands of hair greeted the corner of her eyes. A gold earring, gifted by a vampire King of a foreign country during a visit in Styria. A Queen’s earring, a golden eagle. Dark red eyes found her own and she felt the usual calming feeling washing over her as Queen Tendou smiled down at her in all her glory. She felt fingertips tenderly brushing her tears away. Queen Sugawara entered her sight, her silver hair framing her beautiful face.

“Thank you, Tooru. You saved our Hajime. She’s back on her feet now. But you were injured. You need to go back to sleep so you’ll heal better.”

The spell was woven onto the skin of her forehead before the last words could leave the magician’s mouth, and her eyes fell close a moment later. The last thing on her barely lucid mind she could remember before falling in the arms of Morpheus once more was a beautiful starry night of emerald hues.

&

They traveled a great distance to the west of Styria, where they knew trustworthy allies were waiting for their troops and would offer a safe haven for all of them, until they could move onto the attackers with renewed vigor. The Demi-god leading the enemy army had been a great opponent, an almost deadly one, but Hajime had wounded him greatly in their last stand, and she’d ensured them at least two weeks to use to plan before they had to be on the move. Tetsurou had made sure to remind her of that fact as they rode toward Idare to meet up with the rest of their army and the welcoming party of the King in the stronghold he’d provided for their use.

She didn’t care to listen to the praises of her skills much longer after that. Not when the beast in her felt so restless. Not when the taste of sweet, sweet blood still remained on her tongue, and her instincts were driving her crazy.

Her mind was plagued by the images that had been branded onto her pupils. Images of Tooru laying so incredibly still in her arms, blood coating her naked chest in a deep crimson and enchanting eyes of warm brown falling shut in a wince. Images of the lacerations on her back that Hajime knew she was the author of. The sharp inhale, a pained whimper against her cheek, still echoed with frightening accuracy in her head.

She thought she’d find her lover laying on the floor, long dead, when she first realized she had become Strigoï. It had been a short-lived, wonderful instant of relief when Tooru writhed in her hold. Short-lived because her lover might have saved her life, but her own might come as the price.

And yet the beast in her hadn’t finished the kill. The monster hadn’t listened to its instincts of survival as it’s life bled out of it.

The Strigoï hadn’t gone for the kill, even when it meant to restore her strength to the fullest. Even when it meant her thirst still burned like a never ending fire in her throat. When she looked down at her hands, she thought she’d see her claws trembling with the strength it took to hold herself back. Only she wasn’t shaking, and the image of her reflected in the shards of glass sprawled on the ground showed not the bloodthirsty monster she had always hated from the bottom of her heart, but a Strigoï with a gaze like fire, and yet a spirit like the calm waters of the deep sea, unwavering and perfectly still.

It had been the first time since the beginning of her existence that Hajime had truly felt whole.

The realization, and the soothing quiet it left behind, scared her more than she’d ever care to admit out loud.

&

Hajime had watched over her sleep during the most part of the day, and she’d only ever left once or twice to settle things a Queen needed to worry upon. But as soon as she was allowed to return inside the chambers, she was no more but a lover, sick with grief and concern, caressing as tenderly as her rough fingertips would allow the feverish skin of the woman she dared call hers laying unconscious before her.

She had the servants King Omur provided and the ones that had been brought along stand close by in case they were needed. They were softly talking behind the curtains separating the chambers. The sound had long since became white noise, and she found it helped ease her anxious mind, grounding her down as well as it could.

Her own court, former lovers and dearest friends, were seated close to Tooru, guarding her side with weapons hidden in the folds of silk dresses and under gold ornaments. Her sisters had insisted she did not remain alone in her quarters, lest she was attacked during a moment of inattention – of vulnerability, had been left unsaid – rendering Tooru’s efforts to naught. She’d been worried to overwhelm Tooru’s senses, even so deep under, with so many scents and auras keeping watch. Yuki had been quick to dismiss her worries, and that, without a single word needed to be spoken aloud. She had been the one to lead her to her lover when she first arrived, and as she shuffled to Tooru’s side to change her bandages, she was careful to keep her shoulders and chest wrapped in the heavy cloak Hajime had wrapped her in when she’d first came to again, back in Styria. She’d tore through her shirt, and giving her her cloak to keep her warm had been the least she could do.

Emiko, for once more quiet than anyone could have thought she could be, had sat by Hajime’s side as she guarded her lover’s, and had reached for her hand in silent comfort.

“We were surprised when Queen Tendou put her in our care. You’ve never let anyone wear that cloak before in all the years we’ve known you. We couldn’t bear the thought of taking it from her. She would clutch it close whenever nightmares would plague her mind.”  
“We heard her mumble your name once or twice, even. Your smell is all around her, and it served to calm her grealty every time the fever worsened. Yuki was scared she’d go into shock when she started shaking badly a couple of hours ago, but it stopped as soon as it started when Anika wrapped the cloak around Tooru’s shoulders and cuddled with her.”

Ursa had a tender smile on her face, brushing back Tooru’s sweat soaked bangs from her forehead. She pressed a kiss to Yuki’s temple before sitting down by her side on the furs spread out on the whole width of the dais.

Acknowledging the peace surrounding them and the comfort they were basking in, Hajime allowed herself to smile for the first real time since the attack. Knowing Tooru was in such great care was a blessing. And, even though she had hoped it would be under better circumstances, it was great to see her friends again. She had missed them dearly these last few years spent apart.

That day, she laid with Tooru, the woman tucked close to her side, skin against skin, her cloak wrapped around her lover’s body as she slept soundly cuddled up to her. Maybe she could have done without the loud snores of Emiko, and the kicking from Yuki, but it was nonetheless a beautiful day.

She didn’t stop to realize she hadn’t turned back to mere vampire in hours now. It didn’t seem to matter much, when she finally felt like herself in this form as well. Things would only become so much better once Tooru would wake up, and she couldn’t wait for that to happen.

&

“She should be ashamed to be taking so much place in Hajime’s bed. Poor girl, to think the Queen felt responsible for her fate! She simply did what we would have all done for our dear Queens.”

Sakura’s sour expression morphed into a genuine smile when Hajime walked passed the archway and came to a stop behind the lithe figure of Tamara, who had insisted on coming all the way to their stronghold herself, bringing a handful of men with her to contribute to the war effort. Of course, the princess had ignored the Council when they told her bringing useless, barely trained men would be a waste of time for them all. The Kingdom of Western Europa had never been one to count many great soldiers or wise minds amongst their ranks. Frankly put, the only thing that made of Tamara’s land an ally to cherish was the minerals in the earth, which provided the metal for their weapons and armors. Hajime had almost refused to send out their coordinates to Tamara’s troops when it came time to lead them here, even though the information would be encrypted and Koushi would have woven a spell through it that only allowed Tamara to read through the missive. Even with all chances of interception cast aside, the princess’ presence was one the Queen had truly hoped to be able to avoid.

Yet here they were, with a snake dressed in daring red talking shit about the one woman Hajime would gladly spent her life hearing whine and laugh in that ugly snort she couldn’t help but find so endearing.

Tamara had turned around to face her when she realized the Queen was standing behind her. Sakura, contrary to what Hajime thought she would have done, which is bolt out the door first chance she got, decided to stay where she was, watching the scene with interested eyes.

But she didn’t focus much longer in her, putting all of her attention back on Tamara again. She was almost surprised by the shock written over the princess’ features as she stared at her with wide eyes. She had forgotten some people had never seen this side of her before. The beastly side. The one her lover was so fond of, and the one that had, somehow, gotten fond of Tooru as well. So much so that the Strigoï had decided to keep her alive.

It was astonishing, to come to realize that every part of her loved Tooru so dearly that even instincts honed over centuries couldn’t win over the need, the want to protect her lover at all costs. Even the monster that she had been certain could never love had fallen for the vampire.

Her beloved was just that special, wasn’t she?

She was broken out of her thoughts by the voice of a woman she once considered a friend.

“Hajime, I missed you so much, my love! I was just about to ask Sakira-”  
“It’s Sakura.”  
“-yes, yes, Sakura over here, where I could find you! I heard you were hurt during the attack! You know, I brought with me a very effective ointment to put over your wounds, maybe we can-”  
“My wounds are healed, Tamara.”

Sakura snickered at the look on the princess’ face. She’d stopped mid sentence, a nervous look on her features. Apparently, she had put a lot of hopes into the ointment’s tactic. Seeing her oh so clever plan to get close to Hajime again fail so miserably must have been rather displeasing.

But Hajime didn’t leave her enough time to come back from that step back. She had other matters to attend to and yet, she had to take care of one very important thing with Tamara before moving along.

“Yes, my wounds are healed, all thanks to the poor girl I felt responsible for. In fact, she saved me from a certain death. She risked her life doing so, too.”  
“W-well, we would have all done as much in her situation!”  
“Oh, really? Because, dear Tamara, I doubt you would have. I remember very well how your brother Fredrick came to be heir to the throne.”

They say vampires have a skin tone painted a deadly white, to match the dead soul in their bodies. They’d maybe want to change the saying if they were to see just how much paler Tamara became at Hajime’s words. She turned at least three shades whiter, and the sight of her blonde hair against the sickly white of her face was a horridly worrying thing to see.

If one could ever find it in their hearts to worry about the bitch.

“Tell me, Tamy, if I can’t expect you to save your eldest sister from a gruesome death that was aimed for you, why would I possibly think you would ever risk your life to save the one of your dear Queens?”

She had stepped closer with each word she spoke, and with each step she made herself always a bit more menacing, a bit more present, until she was directly in Tamara’s face, staring down at her with her frightening glare she normally used on prisoners and criminals. The vampire before her seemed on the verge of collapsing to the ground as she tried to hold her glare. Not a single word escaped past her parted lips. Her eyes kept shifting from Hajime’s to the archway. It was obvious she wanted to flee. It would be useless, the Strigoï wasn’t leaving her alone until she had gotten through to her.

Tamara had seemed to realize that.

“W-What do you want?”

Hajime smirked, satisfied.

“You will never spoke ill of Tooru again, or I shall have your head.”  
“Is that what you make of centuries of friendship? I’ve been by your side since the beginning of your rule!”  
“Yes, and don’t think I haven’t noticed the pattern. I had simply chosen to ignore your blatant thirst for power before.”  
“I… I have never – if anyone is after your power, it’s that whore-”

A growl rose from deep within her chest, and she struck the princess with the back of her hand so hard the woman went crashing to the ground. Tamara had brought a hand to her cheek, shocked all over again, but this time it was out of terror. Hajime didn’t hit her friends. Only her enemies. Everyone knew that.

Sakura watched the exchange with piercing attention, careful to react before anyone could provoke a rift between the two countries and therefore a rift in their alliance. But she knew Tamara would never dare start anything with Styria, no matter how broken her heart – or her ego. Everyone knew she wasn’t on her older brother’s good graces, justifiably so, and her powerlessness to face him might have played a part in the fact that Hajime had protected her for so long, but that stopped today.

The Queen of Styria, a hand resting on the pommel of her sword hanging at her waist, stood in front of the snake with a look of carefully crafted boredom mixed with just enough rage that she appeared serious at best, terrifying at worst.

“The only reason why I haven’t skinned you alive for those words right now, is because you and I used to be friends. But…”

And at that, she turned around and started making her way outside the room, throwing one last look at the pitiful girl on the verge of sobbing on the floor. She finished her sentence before disappearing down the hall.

“Should you ever touch a hair on her head, or ever mention her name again, and I will show you how a Queen deals with betrayal.”

&

Tooru woke up to a warm evening breeze and the quiet ruffle of curtains flying in the wind. She cracked an eye open and found herself looking up to high vaulted ceilings of dark wood and torches lighting up the walls. She could make out curtains of dark red and golden brown with her blurred sight. It seemed she was inside a vast room. Heavy shutters were pushed open so the immense windows could let in some fresh air. She must have been brought here to heal from her wounds. And judging by the headache and the thirst, she must have been out cold for a couple of nights now.

She could smell Hajime on the furs she was laid out on, and in the air around her. Her lover was close. That thought had Tooru smiling joyfully. She clutched the cloak blanketing her closer. She sat up carefully, an arm wound over her chest to hide herself, as she took a better look of her surroundings. She was a bit worried she couldn’t recognize the place, but the sight of Emiko and Sakura sleeping a couple feet away from her, laid out on silk sheets and furs, had her worries fade away. She wasn’t in any trouble here, she was sure of that now.

“Hello, Tooru.”

Anika gave her a warm smile when their eyes met, careful not to startle her. Tooru smiled back, and the woman helped her wound the cloak over her shoulder to better cover herself before she helped her stand up. They took a couple of careful steps, Anika supporting her while she put one feet over the other. They got down from the dais and the vampire patiently helped her toward the balcony, opened doors inviting her outside for a sight at the night sky. She let her shuffle on her own past the doors, returning inside after one last relieved smile shared between them.

Tooru felt truly amazed at the sight that greeted her eyes once she stood outside. She had always loved the night time scenes, but this was something she had never even thought to imagine before.

She walked out onto a vast balcony of obsidian stones painted in the dark colors of a black night. Torches lighting up the mountain’s side were gracious enough to hold out warm rays of magnificent light for them. It was truly a sight to behold.

But nothing was more beautiful than the silhouette of her lover cut out against the horizon, and she quickly shuffled closer and closer until she could wrap her arms around Hajime’s waist and press her forehead to the back of her neck. It hadn’t really registered in her mind that her lover should not have been this tall. She was much too taken with her to notice anything amiss.

Hajime intertwined their fingers together, enjoying the moment of peace submerging them, before she turned around and looked down at her lover with piercing eyes, looking for any signs of fatigue or perhaps unease. She found none but the slightly tilted posture Tooru sported, but that was to be expected with the wounds she had suffered.

Tooru smiled up at her with bright knowing eyes, and the whispered word against her jaw as she leaned in felt like all of her prayers had been answered.

“Hajime.”

It was all she could do but take her in her arms and press their lips together in something tender and passionate, telling of torturous slow days spent at each other’s side whitout ever being able to reach out for the other. They kissed with the fervor of old tales of war Hajime had always loved hearing and the strength of which it takes to wield your heart as sharply as a sword. Vulnerability had never tasted so good on the Strigoï’s tongue before. She never wanted to let Tooru go again.

When they broke apart, breathless echoes of laughter shared against each other’s lips, Hajime couldn’t keep her hands to herself anymore, bringing her even closer than before. Tooru had parted her legs, wrapping them around her waist, the worn black fabric of her pants rubbing against the shirt Hajime was wearing, and the only thing she wanted was to rip the clothes off. She craved for Tooru’s skin on her own more than ever now, she wanted nothing more but to feel the perfect skin under her fingertips, she knew only that could ground her anymore, and only Tooru, laying with her and letting her bring out raspy sighs and breathy moans from her parted lips against her neck, could prove to her that she was alive, and well, in her arms again.

So she did just that.

“Tooru.”  
“I missed you so much.”  
“Tooru, I thought I killed you.”

She pushed the cloak aside, her cloak that she had always thought would be the one thing tying her to her roots, the cloak she’d forsaken in favor of her lover, to carefully lean in and breathe in the faint scent of lavender from the crook of Tooru’s neck. Her lover gripped her hair with her hands when a puff of air caressed her collarbone, soft lips brushing her skin and leaving goosebumps behind their touch. Then, Hajime stopped in her tracks, and Tooru opened her eyes she hadn’t even realized she’d closed, glancing down at her lover with a curious look.

Hajime smiled at her with so much love and desire she felt her heart skip a beat. Her cheeks heated up and she pressed their foreheads together, trying to steel herself with little results.

“You smell like me.”  
“I-Is that a bad thing?”  
“No, it’s… it’s perfect.”

Tooru smiled too, reassured, before pressing a kiss to her lover’s temple and wrapping her arms around her neck. She peered into her emerald eyes, slit pupils drifting from her lips to her eyes every few seconds, and she had never felt as invincible before in her life as she did at that very moment, with the woman of her dreams in her arms, a symbolic cloak hanging from her shoulders that the Strigoï tucked her closer under.

“Thank you. For the cloak. I know how much you love it.”

Hajime hummed under her breath before kissing her chin, and then the tip of her nose. She smiled against her cheek, something bright and lively and a bit crooked; the kind that made her so much more beautiful than any perfectly crafted, elegant and seductive smile ever could be.

“I don’t love it nearly as much as I love you.”

The next morning saw them in each other’s arms, heated touches trailed on warm skin and smiles on their lips as they loved and made love so breathlessly, fueled by the passion they had came to uncover after so long spent apart from one another.

&

“Wait, you… you threatened princess Tamara for me?”  
“Yes. Why is that so surprising?”  
“It’s just that… I thought she was one of your best friends…”  
“Sakura and Anika are my best friends, as well as Yuki and Ursa. Tamara has always been more of a… desire, than a friend.”  
“What about Emiko?”  
“Yeah, what about me?”  
“You’re my best annoyance if anything.”  
“Hey!”  
“What is it, fair young maiden I’ve corrupted so?”  
“Oh, I’m going to make you swallow those words!”  
“I’d like to see you – ow! Did you just hit me? With a spoon?”  
“You asked for it!”  
“You’re going to regret that, you little shit.”  
“I’d like to see you try!”  
“Run, Emiko, run!”


End file.
